Samsung promised to support gift cards via Samsung Pay by the holidays and it's now making good on its word.
Samsung Pay now allows users to redeem gift cards and buy new ones straight within the app, with little to no hassle. According to the company, 50 retailers are already on board, supporting merchant gift cards with Samsung Pay.
"Now with Samsung Pay you can purchase, send, and redeem gift cards from a growing selection of your favorite retailers," Samsung notes on its website.
More will join the party soon, but for now Samsung Pay users can enjoy gift card support from Gap, GameStop, Banana Republic, Staples, Toys R Us, Regal cinemas, Whole Foods, eBay and others. View the complete list of all supported retailers on Samsung's website.
Simply put, Samsung's list of retailers now on board with Samsung Pay gift cards are pretty much what you'd expect to see in the gift card offers from a grocery store, which makes it all the more convenient and easy to use.
In addition to gift card support, Samsung Pay also brings a new built-in store that enables users to purchase gift cards as well, not only redeem them.
When it comes to organizing things inside the app, gift cards will be neatly stacked in a separate tab so you don't get them mixed up with your credit and debit cards.
Using gift cards, meanwhile, should be quite easy and straightforward. Merchants will be able to scan the gift card details on the phone's screen or enter a code and it should all take just a few seconds. Alternately, retailers can also use the magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology Samsung employs for its mobile payments app, thus mimicking a physical card. This way, one can hold a smartphone near a card reader and treat gift cards just like other Samsung Pay transactions.
With the holidays rapidly approaching, users may also find it useful to grab a gift card and send it to a friend's Samsung device.
The addition of gift cards is a major step forward for Samsung Pay, especially since it has noteworthy competition from the likes of Apple Pay and other such mobile payments apps. Apple Pay, for instance, supports reward cards and coupons, but has yet to support gift cards.
